Hightower Lowdown:

Let's defend our public treasures: 'America's best idea' is under attack

In his 2012 presidential escapade, Mitt Romney cast himself as just a regular fella, but his inner son-of-privilege kept coming out, exposing him as completely out of touch with regular Janes and Joes. Meeting with Nevada newspaper editors in February 2012, for example, Romney confided his concern for a problem of rising importance: America's national parks.

Attention ladies: Big news on the state legislative front. Republican lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin want to help you improve your lives. Or else.

In Wisconsin, Senator Glenn Grothman wants to give single moms an incentive to get married. Actually, it's a rather negative incentive, for his bill declares that being an unmarried mother constitutes "child abuse and neglect." Interestingly, Glenn has never been married, nor raised any children. But he says his bill is necessary to counter those diabolical liberals who "want children born out of wedlock because they are far more likely to be dependent on the government." Thanks for that insight, Glenn.

Now, on to Arizona, where the GOP-controlled legislature intends to help any and all employers protect the moral purity of their female workers – married or not. How? By letting them deny insurance coverage for birth control pills if the women intend to use the pills for… well, birth control. Ladies will not get the cost of their contraceptives covered, unless they submit proof from their doctors that the pills are necessary to treat a medical condition – NOT just for having non-procreative sex. And, to add some puritanical oomph to the law, it also eases the way for the state's employers to fire any woman who uses contraceptives to – yes – avoid conception.

If that's not perverse enough for you, try this: Rep. Debbie Lesko – the sponsor of Arizona's assault on a woman's freedom, privacy, and dignity – says that the law is necessary to protect "our First Amendment rights and freedom of religion." She means the right and freedom of a boss to violate the rights and freedom of women workers over something as purely personal as their sex lives.

Someone's been munching too much loco weed in Arizona. To keep up with the insanity, go to www.now.org.

"Wisconsin Bills Claims Single Moms Cause Child Abuse By Not Being Married," www.yahoo.com, March 2, 2012.

"Proposed AZ law would let women be fired for using the pill," www.sfgate.com, March 14, 2012.

"Arizona Birth Control Pill Penalizes Women For Using Contraception For Non-Medical Reasons," www.huffingtonpost.com, March 14, 2012.